Ursula K. Le Guin: A Poet’s Legacy

Ursula K. Le Guin is best known for her groundbreaking, visionary, bestselling science fiction and fantasy novels, but throughout her life, she wrote, read, and believed in the power of poetry. “I just knew from extremely early on—it sounds ridiculous, but five or six—that writing was something I was going to do, always… It started as poetry.”

When Le Guin brought the manuscript for her final collection, So Far So Good, to Copper Canyon Press, she did so with faith in us as a nonprofit, independent publisher to do justice to her poetry. As huge fans of her writing and ethos, we were thrilled to accept the book for publication. We were deeply saddened when Le Guin passed away in January of 2018, just days after she sent her last edits to what would be her final poetry book. This tremendous loss strengthened our resolve: Let’s do all we can to lift up the poetic legacy of this essential American writer.

So now we invite you to join us in a rare opportunity: Help publish Ursula K. Le Guin’s final collection of poetry! The book, So Far So Good, will be published in the fall of 2018—thanks to your help. This will truly be a community effort, and a community’s book. In fact, to honor this community element we want to print your name, or the name of a loved one, in every copy of the first edition of the book, when you back the project at $100 or more. Scroll down to “about the publisher” to learn more about our nonprofit publishing model, and read on for much more about the incredible Ursula K. Le Guin and her poetry.

Ursula K. Le Guin, award-winning novelist, poet, avid feminist, and environmentalist, passed away on Monday, January 22, 2018 in Portland, Oregon. In addition to being the author of more than 20 novels, she has written 12 collections of poetry, more than 100 short stories, several collections of essays, 13 books for children, and five volumes of translation. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and have sold millions of copies worldwide.

She is known for her vast contribution to the genres of science fiction and fantasy with books including the Earthsea series, The Left Hand of Darkness, and The Dispossessed, which made her the first person to win both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for Best Novel twice for the same two books. In April 2000, the U.S. Library of Congress dubbed Le Guin a Living Legend in the “Writers and Artists” category for her significant contributions to America’s cultural heritage. In 2002, she won a PEN/Malamud Award, and in 2003, she was made a Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Grand Master, one of only a few women writers to take the top honor in the genre. In 2014, she was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
“Where I can get prickly and combative is if I’m just called a sci-fi writer. I’m not. I’m a novelist and poet. Don’t shove me into your damn pigeonhole, where I don’t fit, because I’m all over. My tentacles are coming out of the pigeonhole in all directions.”